


Translation Difficulties

by Runespoor



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Female Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-05
Updated: 2012-01-05
Packaged: 2017-10-28 23:44:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/313478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Runespoor/pseuds/Runespoor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Artemis isn’t having the same conversation M’gann is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Translation Difficulties

**Author's Note:**

> for the prompt, "Artemis & M'gann, never leave you."

Artemis shrugs. Her shoulders look thin and pointy; it makes M'gann hurt to look at them. On Mars, pointy shoulders just mean that's how you feel like looking right now. Here on Earth, it's a sign of fragility. There's a link between thinness and muscle mass and physical strength, she's learned, that she never got to experience for herself.

Despite what ancient Earth thinkers believed, there's no link between thinness and moral strength. But then, ancient thinkers do get a lot of things wrong for the next generations to unknot, they did on Mars too.

M'gann doesn't know how they could've missed it: Artemis has _that_ strength in bounds.

"You just deal," Artemis says.

"What if you don't know if they'll come back?"

There's that look in Artemis' eyes and that tightness around her lips that tries very hard to be boredom, or blasé-- blasédom? (Robin would know.) It does make her older, which may also be the goal, but which M'gann thinks very sad.

"You just deal," Artemis repeats, and she looks away, her long ponytail bristling. "Especially if they don't come back. You can't exactly run after them," she adds, derisive and regretful.

 _Why not?_ M'gann wants to ask, but she doesn't. She's getting the idea this isn't exactly an easy conversation for Artemis, who never gives up before she's exhausted all her arrows and a couple more things that could be used as arrows, and who still hobbles and swears when she’s sprained her ankle.

Having two conversations at once was never something that'd give her a headache, on Mars, it's just a kind of communication where you can talk to several people at once. It's the same as during a mission; yes, sometimes it's a bit overwhelming, but it's only because there's so much going on, and so much tension, and as one of the big hitters of the group, M'gann has got to be on top of things at all times.

This talking while trying to guess at Artemis' feelings fills her with unease. It's not natural to do it that way. But she plunders on anyway - what's she going to do, turn Artemis' pain away because their means of communications isn't convenient to her?

"How do you know people are going to come back?" she asks instead. A different angle of approach might give her a better idea of what conversation Artemis is having.

Artemis puts her shoulders down. "Generally, they _don't_ ," she says, voice gone short, jabbing her chin higher.

Not fragile; brittle.

"How do you know they're going to leave?" M'gann tries, as soft as Black Canary was with her.

For a long time, Artemis doesn't answer, just stands there with her body whippy and rigid from the inside, in a way that M'gann would wince at if she let herself. She hears the words anyway, as clearly as if Artemis' own mind-voice had spoken to hers. _They always do._

Slow, so it doesn't look like a threat, M'gann crosses the distance between them, and without hesitating, so Artemis doesn't think she's doing this because she feels she has to (she does, but not for the reasons that would wound Artemis' pride and heart), she puts a hand on Artemis' arm.

"I'll never leave," she promises.

Under her touch, Artemis' skin prickles with sudden goosebumps. She has to clear her throat before she can speak up. "Aren't you going to go back to Mars, at one point? That's where your family is, right?"

She's still slow and soft and careful, careful of prickly Artemis who hurts herself most of all, but wrapping her arm around Artemis feels less difficult than that first step.

"You're my family," she says against Artemis' cheek. "I'm not leaving you, Artemis, I promise."

Artemis' resistance melts at that, finally, and when her arms come up to squeeze her back, M'gann feels all the strength of the embrace.


End file.
